Starting in the 12th century, Pomerania was settled with Germans in a process termed
Ostsiedlung, that affected all medieval East
Central and
Eastern Europe. Except for the Pomerelian
Kashubians and the
Slovincians, the
Wends were assimilated. Most towns and villages date back to this period.
Rural settlement Before the Ostsiedlung, Pomerania was rather sparsely settled. Around 1200, a relatively dense population could be found on the islands of
Rügen,
Usedom and
Wolin, around the burghs of
Szczecin,
Koszalin,
Pyrzyce and
Stargard, around the
Parsęta river (
Kołobrzeg area), the lower
Peene river, and between
Sławno and the
Leba valley. Largely unsettled were the hilly regions and the woods in the South. The 12th century warfare, especially the Danish raids, depopulated many areas of Pomerania and caused severe population drops in others (e.g. Usedom). At the turn to the 13th century, only isolated German settlements existed, e.g.
Hohenkrug (Struga) and other German villages, and the merchant's settlement near the Szczecin burgh. In contrast, the monasteries were almost exclusively run by Germans and Danes. Massive German settlement started in the first half of the 13th century. Ostsiedlung was a common process at this time in all Central Europe and was largely run by the nobles and monasteries to increase their income. Also, the settlers were expected to finish and secure the conversion of the non-nobles to Christianity. In addition, the Danes withdrew from most of Pomerania in 1227, leaving the duchy vulnerable to their expansive neighbors, especially
Mecklenburg,
Brandenburg, and
Henry I of Silesia. Germans were placed under a different law than Slavs. While those were unfree (except for the nobles), did not own the soil they cultivated, and were to serve the nobility, the opposite was true for the Germans. About 1240, the areas of
Stavenhagen and
Pyrzyce () were subject to German settlement. About 1250, massive settlement took place also in Central Western Pomerania (
County of Gützkow, lands of
Meseritz,
Ploth,
Ziethen and
Groswin), and the
Stargard area (where settlement was encouraged already since 1229). In the 1260s, settlement started in the
Kamień () area, and in the virtually unpopulated lands of
Nowogard (),
Massow and
Dobra (). The
Ueckermünde and the
Oder mouth areas were also settled at about 1260, but the
Ueckermünde heath and the woodlands on both sides of the
Oder Lagoon remained untouched. In the areas adjacent to the
Peenestrom (the lands of
Wusterhusen and
Lassan) local Slavs participated in the German settlement, which started in the 1260s. Settlement of the areas centered on the upper
Rega river, previously unsettled, started in the 1250s, and reached a peak in the 1280s. The lower Rega area around
Greifenberg in Pommern (Gryfice) and
Treptow an der Rega (Trzebiatów) was settled about the same period, but here a native Slavic population participated. In the
Persante (Parsęta) area, first German settlements occurred about 1260, but a more extensive settlement did not start before 1280. On the islands of
Usedom and
Wolin, only isolated settlements took place in the 13th century, e.g. in the
Garz (Usedom) and
Caseburg (Karsibór) area, where Germans settled already in the 1240s, and in proximity of the German town of
Wolin. The local
Grobe Abbey did, in contrast to the other Pomeranian monasteries, not enhance German settlement. Therefore, Slavic culture on the isles persisted and vanished only in the late 14th century. The island of
Rügen, in contrast to the meanwhile German mainland parts of the principality, also remained a Slavic character throughout the 13th century – German settlement would only start in the 14th century, with strong participation of local Slavs. In
Sławno and
Słupsk ( and ), German settlement started in the 1260s, and was promoted by the
Belbuck Abbey. A large influx of settlers to the western parts of Schlawe-Stolp took place after 1270, first settlers were called to the Stolp area in the 1280s. Here, local Slavs participated in the Ostsiedlung, and settlement went on throughout the 14th century. Initially, the Germans who settled the northern regions predominantly came from
Lower Saxony, while the Germans who settled the southern areas (
mittelpommerscher Keil) predominantly came from
Altmark and
Westphalia. This caused the emergence of
East Pomeranian,
Central Pomeranian and
Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialects. German settlers also came from areas earlier affected from Ostsiedlung, such as
Mecklenburg,
Brandenburg, and later also German settled regions of
Pomerania herself. Though the exact proportion of German versus Slavic populations cannot be determined, it is undisputed that the Germans significantly outnumbered the Slavs. Before the end of the 13th century, the
Western Pomeranian mainland and most of
Farther Pomerania west of the
Gollenberg had turned almost completely German, mentions of Slavs in documents became exceptional. The Slavic dialects disappeared, with the exception that fishermen from the isles and the Oder lagoon area continued to use Wendish for a relatively long period. Villages before the Ostsiedlung were of the
Haufendorf type, the houses were built in close proximity to each other without a special ruling. A variant of this type also found in Pomerania is the
Sackgassendorf (or
Sackdorf) type, where a dead end road leads to those houses. This type evolved as an extension of
Haufendorf type villages. German settlement introduced new types of villages: In the
Hagenhufendorf type, houses were built on both sides of a main road, each within their own
hide (). Those villages were usually set up after the clearance of woodlands, most of them were given German names in absence of any Slavic site names. This type of village can be found all along the coast, most of them in the areas between
Barth and
Wolgast,
Kolberg (Kołobrzeg) and
Köslin (Koszalin), and north and west of
Schlawe (Sławno). Other villages were built in the
Angerdorf type, where a main street fork encloses a large meadow ("Anger") in the village's center where the life stock was kept at night, sometimes the church or other buildings not used for living were built on the Anger also. This type is the most prominent type in the
Peene, lower
Oder,
Pyrzyce,
Lake Madü and
Rega areas, many villages of this type are also found in the
Kolberg and
Schlawe area. In addition to these types, the
Straßendorf type, characterized by a single and very long main street, was introduced in a later stage of Ostsiedlung, and therefore is found predominantly in areas that were affected last by the German settlement (easternmost parts, Cammin area). Villages of this type were either new foundations, or extensions of Slavic precursors. In other areas, Hagenhufendorf and Angerdorf types dominate, while the
Haufendorf type used in Slavic times and its Sackdorf variant can still be found in between, predominantly on the islands.
Foundation of towns Nearly all towns in modern Pomerania date back to the Ostsiedlung. In Slavic times, there have been town-like settlements already in
Demmin,
Wolgast,
Usedom,
Wolin,
Szczecin,
Kołobrzeg,
Pyrzyce and
Stargard, although many of the coastal settlements declined during the 12th century warfare. Yet these settlements were not continued by the German towns, which were founded on previously unsettled soil. Although some towns had a Slavic settlement, sometimes attached to a
burgh, as precursor, the name of which would be adopted for the German town, the new town was usually founded on empty space in the settlements neighborhood. The distance could be some kilometers as in the case of
Kolberg. Exceptions are
Wollin and probably
Cammin, which were built on the spot of former, yet decayed settlements, and
Stettin, where two German settlements were set up close to the Slavic burgh and settlement, all of which were included in the later town. In many cases, the name of the neighboring Slavic settlement would be used for the new town. , a typical
Ostsiedlung town. Locators set up rectangular blocs in an area resembling an oval with a central market, and organized the settlement. The towns were built on behalf of the Pomeranian dukes or ecclesial bodies like monasteries and orders. Many towns with a burgh in close proximity had the duke level this burgh when they grew in power. Stettin, where the burgh was inside the town, had the duke level his burgh already in 1249, Indigenous Slavs faced discrimination from the arriving Germans, who on a local level since the 16th century imposed discriminatory regulations, such as bans on buying goods from Slavs or prohibiting them from becoming members of craft guilds.
Hanseatic towns The towns of Pomerania that had joined the
Hanseatic League acted independently from the duchy, and sometimes opposed the dukes' interest. The most powerful towns were
Stralsund,
Greifswald, and
Stettin (Szczecin), but also
Demmin,
Anklam and
Kolberg (Kołobrzeg). Before the
Treaty of Stralsund in 1370, and during the reign of
Eric of Pomerania, the Hanseatic towns were in a state of war with Denmark for hegemony in the Baltic Sea. Parts of the Pomeranian nobility were engaged in
piracy against Hanseatic vessels. Barnim VI of Pomerania-Wolgast did not only engage in piracy himself, he is also known for providing refuge and hideouts for the
Likedeeler pirate organisation. The relation between the towns and the nobility throughout the Middle Ages ranged from alliances and support () to cabalism, banditry and outright warfare. ==Pomerania-Demmin and Pomerania-Stettin (1155–1264)==